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ASCII Art Generator

Make big ASCII text banners for code comments, README files and chats, or turn any picture into ASCII art. Pick a font or character set, adjust the size, then copy the result or download it as a .txt or PNG file. Everything runs in your browser.


    

      
      
      
      
    

    
All fonts (click to use)

    
  


  
  

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How to use the ASCII Art Generator


  1. Choose Text or Image with the tabs at the top.
  2. For text: type a word or short phrase, then pick a font. Click a font in the gallery to switch, and set spacing, wrap width or a comment style if you need them.
  3. For images: open or drop a picture, then set the width in characters and the character set. Use Invert for white-on-black terminals and the brightness and contrast sliders to bring out detail.
  4. Copy the result or download it as a .txt file or a PNG image.
  5. Paste it somewhere that uses a monospace font (code editor, terminal, Markdown code block) so the characters line up.


The five text fonts






FontMade ofHeightBest for



Standard/ \ _ | ( ) and other plain ASCII characters5–6 linesCode comments, README files, terminals: works everywhere, even in plain ASCII files


BlockFull block █7 linesBold banners in chats, Discord code blocks, consoles that support Unicode


Shadow█ with a ░ drop shadow8 linesEye-catching headers and splash screens


BannerAny character you choose (# by default)7 linesClassic Unix-style banners, pure ASCII output


CompactHalf blocks ▀ ▄ █4 linesSmall, square-looking pixel text that takes little vertical space







Standard and Banner use only the 95 printable ASCII characters, so they display correctly in any file or terminal. Block, Shadow and Compact use Unicode block characters, which nearly all modern editors, terminals and chat apps support.



How image to ASCII conversion works


    

  1. Resize. The picture is scaled to the width you choose in characters. Because a text character is about twice as tall as it is wide, the number of rows is columns × (image height ÷ image width) × 0.5.
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  2. Measure brightness. For every cell the luminance is calculated from the red, green and blue values with the Rec. 709 weights: Y = 0.2126 R + 0.7152 G + 0.0722 B. Transparent areas count as white.
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  3. Adjust. Brightness shifts every value up or down; contrast stretches values away from the middle grey. Invert flips light and dark for white text on a black background.
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  4. Pick a character. The brightness range is divided evenly over the character set, from the densest character (for example @) for black to a space for white.
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Tips: photos with a clear subject and a plain background convert best. Increase contrast for faces and portraits, use 60–100 columns for chat messages and 150 or more for detailed prints. The Detailed set uses 70 brightness levels for smoother shading; Blocks gives the most solid look.



Frequently asked questions


What is ASCII art?
ASCII art is a picture or lettering made from ordinary text characters such as /, \, _, | and #. It dates back to printers and terminals that could only show text, and it is still used in code comments, README files, command-line tools, email signatures and chats.


Why does my ASCII art look broken when I paste it?
ASCII art only lines up in a monospace font, where every character has the same width. Paste it into a code editor, a terminal or a Markdown code block (three backticks), or set the font to Courier, Consolas or another monospace font. Some chat apps also trim repeated spaces.


What is FIGlet?
FIGlet is a classic program from 1991 that prints text as large letters made of ordinary characters, using font files. The Standard font in this tool is drawn in the same style; the other fonts are pixel fonts drawn with block characters or a character you choose.


How does image to ASCII conversion work?
The image is shrunk to the number of columns you choose (and about half as many rows per column, because text characters are taller than they are wide). Each cell's brightness is calculated from its color and mapped to a character: dense characters like @ and # for dark areas, light ones like . and space for bright areas.


Which characters are supported in text mode?
Letters A to Z (shown as capitals), digits 0 to 9 and common punctuation such as ! ? . , : ; - _ ( ) / + = # *. The pixel fonts also support [ ] & @ $ % < > and backslash. Accented letters are shown without their accent, and any other characters are skipped with a note.


Is my image uploaded?
No. The image is read and converted with the canvas in your own browser. Nothing is sent to a server.



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